Symbol Starts With

Company Matches

Record number of Brits take German citizenship after Brexit

A record number of Brits have chosen to become German citizens in the wake of Brexit.

Germany's statistics office said Tuesday that the number of Brits who took German citizenship spiked by 361% in 2016 to 2,865.

"There appears to be a link with Brexit," the agency said in a statement.

Foreigners are eligible to be naturalized in Germany after living in the country for at least eight years. They must also have adequate knowledge of German and pay an application fee.

The trend is not limited to Germany. The number of Brits applying for foreign passports shot up after the country voted last June to leave the European Union.

When the U.K. leaves the EU -- probably in March 2019 -- its citizens are likely to lose the automatic right to live and work in the 27 remaining member countries. They could also face new restrictions on travel.

Italy, Sweden, Poland and Hungary all reported a surge in interest in the days immediately after the Brexit vote.

Ireland's foreign ministry reported in January that passport applications from the U.K. surged 41% in the wake of the referendum. Nearly 65,000 British applications were submitted in total.